Developers talk up Mac OS X 10.3.8 enhancements

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Apple developers claim a forthcoming update to Panther will improve overall stability and deliver a new version of the Mac OS X kernel.



In an unmoderated internet-based developer chat room on Thursday, Apple developers fueled rumors of a successive update to Apple Computer's Mac OS X 10.3 "Panther" operating system.



Rumored to have been released to some Apple developers this week, Mac OS X 10.3.8 will be one of the final updates to the Panther OS, according to developers. The release will reportedly deliver improvements to the Mac OS X graphics sub-system, especially OpenGL intensive apps games. Overall system reliability will also see fortification, they said.



More specifically, developers said the system update would improved Quartz 2D Extreme performance on PCI devices and deliver a new version of the Mac OS X kernel, said to be 7.8.0. The most recent release of Panther -- Mac OS X 10.3.7 -- includes kernel version 7.7.0.



The Panther update is also expected to repair performance bugs associated with Nvidia graphics and OpenGL.



Developers say the software, which reportedly weighs in at just shy of 19MB, is slated to debut next month and may boast support for new hardware offerings that may come to market around the same time.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    squatchsquatch Posts: 7member
    Man I hope this is true because ever since upgrading to 10.3.7, my Myst IV game crashes everytime you go from a menu like "Options" or "Load Game" back to the Main Menu. I've checked Ubisoft's website and they attribute it to the OS update because I never had this problem in 10.3.6.



    Any fellow Myst fans who have figured out a way to stop this? Thanks! She's using the latest eMac model.
  • Reply 2 of 12
    tchwojkotchwojko Posts: 139member
    I haven't had any problems with Myst IV on 10.3.7, other than it being a bit slow.
  • Reply 3 of 12
    mcsjgsmcsjgs Posts: 244member
    Probably the final update before Tiger. Looking forward to seeing what they did.
  • Reply 4 of 12
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mcsjgs

    Probably the final update before Tiger. Looking forward to seeing what they did.



    After updating to 10.37 I suffered a massive system crash. Lost all sorts of data and had to reinstall the system. Now various apps don't run. Apple is as perplexed as I am....
  • Reply 5 of 12
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,562member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by AppleInsider

    Apple developers claim a forthcoming update to Panther will improve overall stability...



    How will we be able to tell? As it is OS X rarely crashes. I know a few people have serious problems and I feel for you, but most of us are nothing but happy with OS X.
  • Reply 6 of 12
    squatchsquatch Posts: 7member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by tchwojko

    I haven't had any problems with Myst IV on 10.3.7, other than it being a bit slow.



    You're one of the few fortunate then.



    I found out it was a known issue by Ubisoft because they only support up to 10.3.6. I had to Archive & Install my stuff and reinstall 10.3 and upgrade all the way back to 10.3.6 just to get it to work.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by AppleInsider



    More specifically, developers said the system update would improved Quartz 2D Extreme performance on PCI devices ...



    Now correct me if I am wrong, but there is no such thing like Quartz 2D Extreme in Panther. This is something for Tiger. See here (at around 23rd minute of the video).
  • Reply 8 of 12
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    Here you go.



    http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/quartzextreme/



    Sub Reference Quartz Extreme.



    Quote:

    Originally posted by PB

    Now correct me if I am wrong, but there is no such thing like Quartz 2D Extreme in Panther. This is something for Tiger. See here (at around 23rd minute of the video).



  • Reply 9 of 12
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by neutrino23

    How will we be able to tell? As it is OS X rarely crashes. I know a few people have serious problems and I feel for you, but most of us are nothing but happy with OS X.



    yes, on the whole many people's OS Xs are stable and happy. i think one has to always make the right backups and decide when to move to 10.3.Latest, because usually drivers and applications by non-Apple vendors need to be updated...



    it's so tempting and handy and feels good to have the latest Os X when you click on About This Mac, but if your running mission critical with your Mac, caution is urged



    this i have learned from experience, particularly with my music setup -- midi keyboard, external soundcard, ableton live... but M-Audio kicks ass and is quite vigilant with their driver updates. high quality pro products at never-before-affordable products... now if i can only figure what kind of music i really want to make...
  • Reply 10 of 12
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by TednDi

    After updating to 10.37 I suffered a massive system crash. Lost all sorts of data and had to reinstall the system. Now various apps don't run. Apple is as perplexed as I am....



    Sorry to hear that... Good luck with it \
  • Reply 11 of 12
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mdriftmeyer

    Here you go.



    http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/quartzextreme/



    Sub Reference Quartz Extreme.



    This is what Quartz Extreme does today and certainly it is not Quartz 2D Extreme. It is simply the Quartz Compositor accererated by the graphics hardware. See here.



    I don't know if you saw the Tiger video, but Apple says clearly there that the 2D component of Quartz is taking the Extreme route in Tiger, like the Compositor component did from the Jaguar era. This means that 2D operations, like resizing, will be performed by the graphics chip. Quartz 2D Extreme is expected to run 2-100 times faster than software Quartz 2D we have today in Panther.



    So really, I don't see what is this reference to Quartz 2D Extreme in the 10.3.8 update.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    s.metcalfs.metcalf Posts: 972member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by PB

    This means that 2D operations, like resizing, will be performed by the graphics chip. Quartz 2D Extreme is expected to run 2-100 times faster than software Quartz 2D we have today in Panther.



    Another reason Tiger can't come soon enough!
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